Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Dawnia Jo Howard
Dawnia, date, approximate 1985; Richard Howard in 2009
Date Missing 12/14/1985
Missing From
San Antonio, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 05/13/1957 (65)
Age 28 years old
Height and Weight 5'1, 116 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, brown/hazel eyes. Dawnia's maiden name is Nolen and her previous married name is Volkmann. She has a scar on her left breast.
Details of Disappearance Dawnia was last seen in San Antonio, Texas on December 14, 1985. Her twelve-year-old son stated he woke up in the morning and his mother was gone. She left behind her keys, car and purse. She has never been heard from again.
She was recently divorced at the time of her disappearance and lived alone with her two children. She had a history of drug use and an arrest record for alcohol-related offenses, and her loved ones stated it would not be uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning, but they did not think she would have abandoned her children entirely.
Dawnia's ex-husband, Richard Clinton Howard, moved into her home after her disappearance and took care of her children, but did not report her missing. A photo of him is posted with this summary. Dawnia's father filed the missing persons report on December 27.
Richard stated he believed Dawnia was on a trip to see her sister in Europe when she disappeared. However, Dawnia's sister was not in Europe at the time.
On the same day Dawnia was officially reported missing, Richard's brother, Roger Howard, went to the police and said Richard had confessed to causing Dawnia's death. According to Roger, Richard went to Dawnia's house and attacked her while she was asleep on the couch. He beat and choked her to death and disposed of her body by flushing the flesh down the toilet and putting the bones in a trash container south of Braunig Lake.
Richard was charged with Dawnia's murder in 1986, but less than a week after his arrest, the charge was dropped for lack of evidence. A search of his trailer turned up no indications that a dead body had been there. Authorities did, however, say they believe Roger's statement about the confession was true.
Richard married again later in 1986, and he and his new wife, Cora Jean Howard, moved to Michigan. In July 1999, Cora disappeared without a trace. Richard gave an explanation for her disappearance that was very similar to his account of Dawnia's disappearance: he stated Cora had taken a bus to Texas to visit her aunt, but Cora did not have an aunt living in Texas.
Authorities suspected Richard was involved in Cora's disappearance and they were about to arrest him for her murder in January 2003, when he turned himself in voluntarily and confessed. Richard led investigators to Cora's body in August of that year; he had buried her in the basement of his barn. He was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Dawnia graduated from East Central High School in 1973. She has never been located and her ex-husband was never convicted of any charges in her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
San Antonio Police Department
210-207-7636
Other
Texas Department of Public Safety
The Doe Network
A&E Television Networks Forums
The Ludington Daily News
The San Antonio Express-News
Michigan Department of Corrections
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
